Marlins, Sandy Alcantara in agreement on 5-year contract extension

Following up on his initial report from Monday morning, Craig Mish of SportsGrid hears that the Marlins and Sandy Alcantara reached an agreement Sunday on a five-year, $56 million extension. It’s the largest guarantee ever made to a first-time arbitration-eligible MLB pitcher. Moreover, this news comes on the heels of Miami inking Avisaíl García to provide some desperately needed run support.

If Alcantara ages gracefully, the Marlins can exercise a sixth-year $21 million club option—that would be for the 2027 season (age 31).

I don’t have much to add beyond what was already expressed in that article. I called for the All-Star right-hander to earn $58 million over the next five years (2022-2026), and according to Mish, he’ll settle for just a couple million bucks shy of that.

If not for the extension, Alcantara was entering his first year of arbitration eligibility. He lacked the leverage to earn anywhere near his market value, so expect this deal’s structure to be significantly backloaded.

Prior to this week, the largest commitment that the Bruce Sherman/Derek Jeter ownership group had ever made to an individual player was $17.5 million over two years for free agent Corey Dickerson. With minimal guaranteed deals on their payroll for 2022 and beyond, the timing was appropriate to step up and lock in their durable ace.

Originally acquired from St. Louis in the December 2017 Marcell Ozuna trade, Alcantara can become the first pitcher in history to spend 10 major league seasons with the Marlins. A fanbase starved for roster continuity will be thrilled.

From here, most of the Marlins’ offseason activity should be dedicated to upgrading at catcher and center field.